


Unintended

by Darkhymns



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Dreams, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-24 10:17:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4915753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkhymns/pseuds/Darkhymns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Working on Colette's present, it is the sun in her hair that Lloyd remembers, the sound of her laughter - it is those memories and the feel of her half-constructed necklace in his hands that he brings with him to sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unintended

**Author's Note:**

> Not porn necessarily, but the subject matter is obvious. Well! Hope it's enjoyable. Think of it as a sample of some mature Colloyd work that I'd like to share sometime, along with the innocent stuff. I think there's room for both? /hopes

The sky had long grown dark when Lloyd had stayed seated at his worktable, still working on a project that he had started just hours before. His fingers ached from attempting to fit and mold the pieces together, and he tried very hard to not just leave it on the desk and announce it as 'good enough.'

 _She'd probably like it either way,_ he thought to himself, his hands slowing a little as he recalled Colette from earlier that day, laughing as he convinced her to ride on Noishe. She'd done so and then promptly slid off and fell on her back. Luckily the ground had been soft, and Lloyd had decided to follow suit, playfully collapsing alongside as dust clouds raised around them both. Noishe had sneezed on his face, with Colette's laughter filling his ears.

His fingers slipped on a sharp edge of a piece, making him wince. "Ow! Damn it!"

The surface of his worktable was scattered with metal bits; the beginnings of a copper layer, the incomplete clasp whose lock he had pricked his finger against, and the small loops of a chain. There was also a round gem placed amidst the clatter, its red luster standing out. Dirk had mined the shiny rock, but had given this particular one to Lloyd, saying that its value was actually rather worthless. "Not as pure as its kin," he said.

Lloyd hadn't really understood what he meant though, thinking it looked pretty enough. When he saw that gem, the idea for Colette's present came to mind. After a few botched attempts at the necklace, he finally felt the project coming along. Well, until he hurt himself.

He sucked on his injured finger, then yawned big enough for his jaw to crack slightly.  _This is gonna take forever… It's a good thing I started this early._ A year early, to be exact. Birthdays usually had a way of sneaking up on him.

He yawned again, tears coming to his eyes. How late was it? Dirk had eased up on his bedtime lately, which Lloyd would pay the price for when he arrived at school two hours late to a merciless Professor Sage. Luckily, he had a free day tomorrow.

 _I'll still be up early anyway,_ he thought sleepily, easing himself off the chair to stumble to his bed. Already his eyes were growing heavy. He'd been wearing his black shirt all day and knew it needed changing, but it was so difficult to move anymore. So sudden was his exhaustion that he let slip from his throat, "I bet I can finish it soon…"

Even if the present turned out to be a hack job, Colette would still like it, to be sure. She'd still laugh and smile, no matter how bad it was. But he wouldn't make it a second-rate necklace. He'd make a present that she could wear around the village freely. Sure, Dirk would still say it was only half of what a real dwarven worksmith could do, though he said that about most things he tried to make…

Lloyd's dreams were usually of little consequence, easily forgotten by the morning. They were of simplistic things like a buffet that stretched for miles long, or a castle made of clouds that he would try to climb up to, exploring every room for treasure. They seem to be more vivid however, when he would stay up later than usual. Just before he succumbed to sleep, his kept his mind on that necklace, on what it would become, on how happy Colette would be when she saw it. It was so easy to make her happy and he kept wanting to find new ways of doing so, because lately, he'd catch a sadness that would pass over her face. She hid it well, but not from him, so maybe a present would help…

In his dreams, he was on a beach.

The only beach he had ever went on was the one near Iselia, just a short jog from the schoolhouse. Professor Sage had taken the class there on a trip once, instructing everyone to find certain creatures on the list she provided everyone. Lloyd couldn't name one, not without Genis' and Colette's help. It looked like that beach, with the bright sand and the gentle waves, leaving their foam on the shoreline.

But dreams are strange. There is usually a sense of complete certainty in them, leaving one little to question on what's happening, no matter how illogical or unlikely it was. So as Lloyd found himself kneeling on the sand, he couldn't find anything wrong with the fact that he was naked. It didn't feel uncomfortable or anything of the sort - there was only the fact which he accepted completely.

He was naked and making sandcastles. And someone was helping him.

"Can you make the gate on your side?" spoke someone. He looked up, finding another person kneeling on the other side of their growing sandcastle. The light from the sky was very bright, somehow shielding their face. But his dream self smiled, as if that was not at all an issue.

"I'm already doing that. What about your side?"

"Oh. I finished with it already. Now I'm making the moat."

Lloyd laughed. "That's easy. What's taking you so long?"

"It has to be the right size! So that the drawbridge can cross it all the way."

"I didn't know we were making those too!"

The person laughed - a girl's laughter. It was a sound he had grown to really like. "But all castles should have those."

"And all moats should probably have water in them."

She gasped, as if the thought had never occurred to her. "Oh, I'll go get some then. Do you think you could make the drawbridge for me?"

"Let me finish my wall first!" he told her with a grin.

As if satisfied with his answer, the girl stood up. And just like with his own nakedness, he accepted the fact that the girl was too. Her form was slim, just a few inches shorter than he was. He caught a gleam coming from the middle of her chest, but she had already turned away, her long hair trailed down her back as she walked toward the ocean.

The sun was very bright, trying to mask everything from his sight, leaving him with more of an impression than of any real details. He watched as she knelt in the water, trying to gather it up with both hands. Rivulets trailed down her arms, and the low waves washed around her, already soaking her hair.

Lloyd stayed where he was, unable to move. Then she called out to him, her voice very low.

"Actually… can you help me?"

The wind picked up, making both of them shiver.

He clapped away the sand from his hands, then walked towards her, his feet splashing the water. He was very careful as he knelt behind her, holding out his arms to balance her own, his hands gently taking her wrists.

"It'd be easier if you had a pail," he told her. He was pressed against her back with no hesitation, feeling the dampness of her skin.

She didn't move away. "I can't get enough to stay," she told him, watching the water escape through her fingers.

"It's fine." He closed her hands with his own, his breath getting harder to come by.

She turned to him then. The dream kept obscuring her face, but inwardly, he knew who she was and suddenly wanting nothing else but her. His hands brushed against the object hanging over her chest, the only adornment she wore.

"Don't leave," she pleaded with him, and he answered her back with a kiss. It was deep, exploring her as he never had before. There was the taste of sand and salt water, but also her as she leaned forward to meet his mouth. He hugged her tighter, his hands trailing down the bareness of her chest, her stomach, her thighs.

In dreams, all is accepted in readiness. Suddenly the sky was dark, giving relief to his eyes as held onto her, moving her further up shore so that he could lay her down. A knowledge that he did not possess in real life let him know where his mouth would be most welcome. Her body rose to meet his movements, her voice full of soft moans as his tongue glided across soft breasts, as his fingers found their way between her legs. He loved her and he could not imagine any other reason as to why he wanted to do this and more with her.

"I don't want to leave either," she whispered, her arms wrapping around his neck, bringing his lips to hers, kissing desperately.

He tugged on her lip gently, rising his body to lay over hers. "Then don't." He shifted, overcome with her, completely lost to her as he pushed through, gentle, soft, and easy. A gasp, a sudden need to kiss her body again. "You don't have to."

A shaking moan rose from her throat, each time uttered softly whenever he shifted. It was the feeling of warmth that encompassed his whole self, which he felt much too deeply in his chest. He did slow movements, trying to drag out the sensation of her hips rising up to meet his own. "You don't need to leave," he told her again, and she nodded, bringing her mouth to his again, his own voice mingling with hers as he lost his hold.

His hands slid up her chest, hitting something solid, separate from the warm girl that he loved. The necklace laid there in completion, with engravings on the side. Her hand closed over it gently, and the smile she gave made his chest constrict.

" _Colette."_

Lloyd woke up to the sound of his own voice. It was unrecognizable, breathless, and for a moment, he stared at the ceiling, wondering if someone was in the room with him.

The events of the dream were already starting to fade away from memory. Even so, the impression, the sensations he felt during it, trailed through his blood. It seemed to take him years to get his arms to move. Bright sunlight streamed through his window, heating the sheets he laid on to a near unbearable temperature.

Once his brain started to work, he started from the bed, instantly sitting up. _What was… what was that about?_  Trying to recall what he dreamed, his breath quickened by just a fraction, and guilt and shame instantly washed over him. He never experienced something like that before and with…

He realized he felt damp.

_The hell?_

Looking down, there was a noticeable wet spot on the sheets tangled in his legs. It was on his pants too and-

"Oh, no," he groaned. The guilt in him only intensified. He sat there, stunned into uselessness.

Dirk's bellowing voice from the stairs was not at all welcome. "Boy! Get up already! I won't have you sleeping in the entire day!"

Lloyd flinched, but he stayed on the bed, unsure exactly what he should do. Obviously he had to change clothes, and the sheets too. But he couldn't just leave all that stuff in the corner - and his Dad would just get mad if he left things on the floor anyway.

He clenched his fists. The shame just got worse.  _The hell was up with that dream anyway?!_

Whatever, he'd just have to deal with it. He quickly changed out of his clothes and practically ripped away the bed sheets and blankets, wrapping everything into a big lump that filled his arms. He briefly thought about just leaping off the terrace to get to the stream faster, and maybe avoid the dwarf's questions. It wouldn't be that difficult since his Exsphere would have made that possible… But his dad had some pretty good hearing and would wonder why Lloyd was leaping over balconies with dirty sheets in his arms.

This was all so dumb. Why did he have to dream that?

Taking a deep breath, he quickly rushed down the stairs, just barely seeing the dwarf at the edge of his vision, who was just about finished with cooling off another metalwork commission. Maybe he would be too busy with his work to pay any attention-

"Ah, so you're finally up! Ya took too long, so I gave Noishe your breakfast. Not gonna have good food going to waste."

The mention of gone food was almost enough to stop Lloyd in his run to the door. As a result, he nearly tripped over the front steps, and just gripped onto the sheets more tightly. He averted his face. "That's…that's fine." Which was the wrong thing to say anyway, because Dirk picked his head up, staring at him curiously. Lloyd made sure to rush straight out the door, and basically collapsed on his knees when he reached the stream, to the spot where the soap and the clothes scrub were set out for when his dad would wash the clothes.

There was a sudden urge to just dump everything in the water and leave it. Instead, he steeled himself and set himself to cleaning, nearly rubbing the bar of soap to near obliteration as suds completely covered his hands.

The sound of the rushing water only brought back the dream again. Of her kneeling by the shore, drops of the ocean falling between her fingers. The water had run through his hands as well, as he held her, touched her, her body moving in time with his motions.

Lloyd stopped cleaning, and took another deep breath. The shock of it had passed now, and now there was just that curious warmth that he couldn't really explain…

"Since when do you do laundry, Lloyd?"

Lloyd started, nearly fell headfirst into the stream. Dirk had suddenly appeared right beside him, his deep voice booming in his right ear.

"…Hey, I- I can do my own chores!" he shot back.

The dwarf shook his head in disbelief. "Only after a good whack across your head." He eyed the laundry in Lloyd's hands, which was wholly submerged in the water. "You're supposed to wash one thing at a time, you know."

"It's… fine," he said. The dream kept coming back with all its unwelcome distractions. He wished he could just sink into the ground.

For a while, he felt Dirk just stand by his shoulder, scrutinizing his movements. Then there was a deep sigh. "Aye, I think I understand now."

Dread instantly clenched his insides.  _Oh, please, no._

"Lloyd…" Dirk began, clapping a heavy hand on the boy's shoulder. "I think it's time that we had the talk."

Lloyd stopped his scrubbing, then turned to the dwarf slowly. "No, we really don't."

"Now, now, it's nothing to be ashamed fer." Dirk eased himself down next to Lloyd, irking his son to no end. "In fact, I'm surprised it took this long for ya. It's perfectly natural-"

"Dad, we're not having this talk."

Then the dwarf laughed, which didn't help matters. "Embarrassed, ain't ya?"

"No!" Lloyd winced at how his voice cracked. "I'm 16, I already know how all that stuff works! School told me plenty."

It was one of the few times he had paid attention in class really. Since it had nothing with stuffy old history and incomprehensible mathematics, Lloyd was actually able to grasp the subject. He could still remember the rather detailed diagrams that Professor Sage had drawn on the chalkboard, explaining the differences between the boys and girls with technical terms that still brought out bouts of giggles. Genis had, for once, refused to answer any questions aimed at the class, preoccupied with burying his head in his hands as he tried to shut out the things his sister was saying.

Colette had been seated in front of Lloyd, so he hadn't been able to see her face to gauge how she felt about this part of their education. The only answer he got was when they had all left class, with her turning to both him and Genis, laughing nervously. "That was really strange, wasn't it?" she had said.

In that memory, he couldn't deny any more of who he had dreamed about. It was her golden hair that had trailed down a naked back, and her delicate hands that he held. The warmth blossomed as he could only go over in detail what he had done with her dream-self. Flustered, he picked up the soap and went back to scrubbing the sheets as hard as he could.

"It's just - It's just stupid anyway!" he practically shouted, doing all he could to keep from looking at his father's face.

Dirk slapped his back good-naturedly, upsetting his balance. "Ya always were a late-bloomer, Lloyd."

The boy just mumbled incoherently.

"Still, now would be a good time to let you know how to be a respectable man when it comes to these things. Now, when there's a lass you like very much-"

Lloyd groaned, wishing he could wash out his brain along with the sheets.

* * *

It had been a grueling lecture about the birds and the bees, though since it was Dirk, he used a lot of dwarven terminology that made very little sense.

"Remember, wooing a lass is just like mining. Ya can't just hack away at whatever place ya fancy, or both of you will just get hurt."

"But I don't want to mine anyone!"

"Ah, ya say that now! But all men get weak over a certain someone's eyes. Don't think you'll be any different. Not that I approve of you doing any irresponsible things nonetheless!"

But the day was already over. After Lloyd set up his new sheets, he looked back at the worktable, the beginning of Colette's birthday present still displayed on top. He knew now what it would look like when he was done. His dream had showed him that.

Carefully, he gathered up all the parts, from the metal screws to the bright gem, and deposited them in a small workbox that his father had given him. He would work on it later, when Colette's presence under him wasn't so clearly remembered. He still had a whole year, so he'd get it to her in time.

 _Still,_  he thought, unable to suppress a smile.  _She looked happy with my present, didn't she?_


End file.
